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MEMORIALS 



JOHN PITKIN NORTON, 



LATE PROFESSOR OF 



ANALYTICAL AND AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY, 



YALE COLLEGE, NEW HAVEN, CONN. 



^ui)lisl)eD fot IJnbcitc IDistiiljutioii. 




ALBANY: Qy^ 
ERASTUS H. PEASE & CO., 82 STATE STREET. 
1853. 



T: 



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X^x^ 



J. MUNSELI., VRINTKR, 
ALBANY. 



Tills collection of memorials lias been published to meet tlio 
requests, from many friends of the deceased, for copies o( 
Doct. Porter's Sermon, and other interesting notices called 
forth by his death. 

Several gratifying notices from various periodicals, arc not 
included, being similar, in tenor and general character, to those 
selected. 



Ittcmorial0, ^c. 



From llie New Haven Journal and Courier. 

PROF. JOHN PITKIN NORTON.* 

This much lamented man died of a rapid decline, 
Sunday, Sept. 5th, at li o'clock p. m., at the house of 
his father, John T. Norton, Esq., in Farmington. Prof 
Norton was appointed, a few years since, by the corpo- 
ration of Yale College, to a new professorship, that of 
Chemistry applied to agriculture and the phenomena of 
vegetable and animal life. 

At two different periods, he passed nearly three years 
in Europe, under eminent professors, and was diligently 
engaged in preparing himself for the duties of his 
appointment. 

Returning in 1847, he began his courses of both theo- 
retical and experimental instruction. A respectable 
class of diligent and interested pupils was soon gathered 
around him, and has been continued and increased in 
all the successive years. 

* From the pen of Prof. Silliman. Sen. 



6 

Prof. Norton has been also mucli hclbrc the public, 
both as a lecturer and an antlior, on the subjects wbich 
he had cultivated, anil so high was the estimation in 
which he was held on acconnt both of his talents and 
attainments, that his eflbrts were sougbt for in a distiii- 
guished city* of a neighboring stat(\ In tbe desire to 
meet that demand, and at the same time to fulfill his 
dnties in New [laven, he ])erlbrmed winter jonrneys 
twice weekly, week by week, during the late severe sea- 
son, giving a lecture daily until his health failed in 
the spring. 

A southern voyage and a residence in Florida, in March 
and April, gave his friends strong hopes that his health 
would be restored, and he commenced his journey home- 
ward with fair prospects ; but at Washington the mea- 
sles arrested him, and his health, although at times im- 
proved, has fluctuated from that time, and for some 
weeks the hopes of his friends had been almost extin- 
guished. His decline, towards the last, was very rapid, 
but his Cliristian hope sustained and cheered him in his 
closing hours, as it had been his solace and guide in 
health. 

His character was every way most estimable and 
lovely, his manners mild and retined, and his conversa- 
tion animated and interesting. He was eminently 

* Ai.uANV. liis native til v. 



happy in his sorinl nud (himcstic rchilioiis, niid was sur- 
rounded by every thin<^ tliat could make lile inlerestinj; 
and valuable. By a mysterious providence he was cut 
oft^ at the ao^e of 30, ere youth was gone, and in the 
hour of decided success in his profession. 

He had ah*eady made a strong and favorable impres- 
sion on the public mind ; he had gained the confidence 
of ALL, and promised a long career of usefulness. 

Yale College, in the short period of five days, has been 
deprived of two of its brighlest ornaments — one in the 
full maturity of years, learning, and honorable fame^ — 
the other, in the bright morning of hope. The excellent 
Gov. Treadwell and the late revere:t{d senator Timothy (^ 
Pitkin, were lineal ancestors of Prof Norton. 

His funeral was attended on Tuesday afternoon, from 
his late residence in Temple avenue. 

New Haven, Sept. H, 1852. 



SERMON 



OCCASIONED BY THE 



DEATH OF JOHN PITKIN NOllTON, 

Trufessor of Analytical and Agricultural Chemistry in Yale College. 
PREACHED IN FARMINGTON, CONN., SEPTEMBER, 1853, 

BY REV. NOAH PORTER, D. D. 



S E II M O ]N . 



^^aitd hi/ It he hciuii- (lead yet .spcakcth.'' — Heb. xi, l- 

Thiy i.s said of riohtcous Abel. Thouoh cut otl by 
nmrderous hands, lie yet lived and spoke, in the I'aith, 
the remembrance of which remained. By faith, while 
he lived, he obtained witness that he was rigliteous, 
God testifying of his gifts; and by it, being dead, lie 
spoke to survivors, who remembered him ; and through 
the Scriptures he speaks to us, also, and to all men, 
wherever the record comes, testifying to the excellence 
of his laith in the sight of Cod, its ov(n-coming power as 
a principle of obedience, and its efficacy to justify and 

save the soul. 

In the same manner, other good men, by their remem- 
bered or recorded examples speak, when their lips are 
silent in death. Tbe long list of" wortbies whose works 
of faith are recorded lor our imitation in tbe Old Testa- 
ment, are spoken of by the apostle Paul as a great cloud 
of witnesses compassing us about. They speak to us 
through the Scriptures, testifying to the laithfulness of 
Cod, .ind .•vhoitiug us, believing in lii.s woid, to lay 



12 

aside every weight, and run with patience the race set 
before us. So, also, our personal acquaintances who 
have died in the faith, and whose virtues are embalmed 
in our memories, though dead, yet speak, exhorting us 
to follow their example. Though gone from us, never 
to return, they live, and seem to be present with us JJi 
their accustomed scenes. They seem to speak to us in 
those scenes, renewing and contirming the lessons of 
wisdom, which they gave us, in word or deed, when they 
were here, and to do this with new impressiveness, in 
consideration of their end. 

We ought then to heed their voice; to call up the 
remembrance of their lives, and consider what there 
may be, by which they, being dead, yet speak. To aid 
you in this, I have ocasionally sketched before you cer- 
tain characteristics of some of our deceased friends, as 
I have had the time and opportunity. I have done it, 
not to eulogise the dead, but to benefit the living; and 
with this in view T would now remind you of some of the 
more striking traits of character in our lately deceased 
friend. Prof Norton. He was yet in his youth — the 
character of his childhood and youth is fresh in the 
remembrance of many of us — he was loved by all of 
us who knew him, and his death is greatly and very ex- 
tensively lamented ; and I wish to take advantage of 
these circumstances of the event which we so deeply 



13 

deplored, to coriirneiid his virtues to your regard, and, 
particularly, to the attention and imitation of the young- 
men and lads who are coming up among us after him. 
We can hardly realize that we are to meet him here no 
more. It requires no stretch of the lancy, to imagine 
his beaming countenance in his accustomed place in the 
assembly, and his melodious voice joining in our songs 
of praise. And though he is not here, and will no more 
be, yet his footsteps are here, and it may be pleasant and 
profitable ibr us to gather up those remembrances of him 
by which he, being dead, yet speaketh. 

1. His filial reverence. I mention this first, because 
of all the amiable and hopeful virtues of youth this is 
first developed, and contains the germ of every other. 
" Honor thy father and thy mother (which is the first 
commandment with promise), that it may be well with 
thee, and that thou may^est live long on the earth." 
How eminently both the precept and the promise here 
commended to us were exemplified in our departed 
friend, you who new him can tell. Although, indeed, 
in respect to the number of his years, we mourn his 
early death, yet, in respect to his amount of usefulness, 
he lived long upon the earth; and but for his filial 
reverence, this had not been. Go back to his early child- 
hood, and none of you remember a disrespectful word 

concerning his father or mother to have passed his lips. 
2 



14 

They know not, and I presume that none of you know, 
an instance, since his childish days, in which he attempt- 
ed to deceive them. Not only their commands, but their 
wishes, were sacred in his regard ; and this, not only 
when he was under their eye, but in their absence. Far 
off, in a foreign land, and in years of maturity, it was 
enough to withdraw him from any fashionable amuse- 
ment or youthful gratification, to know or believe that 
his father, if present, would wish him to abstain. My 
young friends, I can not too earnestly commend his ex- 
ample, in this respect, to your regard. Such reverence, 
in a son of his father, is a fore-shadowing of the Christ- 
ian's reverence of his God. 

2. His accustomed cheerfulness. Cheerfulness beamed 
in his face, thrilled in his voice, and diffused itself from 
his buoyant mind over the circle of susceptible minds 
around him. It was not levity ; it was not frivolity ; 
and much less was it jovial sensuality. It was good 
humour, and often, on fitting occasions, it was playful- 
ness. He had a quick sense of pleasure from those 
things which God made to give pleasure, and he loved 
to interchange with others the pleasure that he felf. 
This, no doubt, was founded partly in constitution ; but 
thousands are of the same constitutional temperament, 
who yet are too selfish or too anxious, to be cheerful. 
He was also a favored child of Providence ; but thou- 



15 

sands on whom Providence lavishes its llivors, ycl, 
through discontentment or distrust are unhappy. Cheer- 
fulness is not, o±" course, a positive virtue ; but gloomi- 
ness, amidst the multitude of God's mercies, is a positive 
sin. Nor can you conceive how much you may add to 
your own and others happiness, how much you may 
lighten the burdens of life, and help them to bear theirs, 
by cultivating the habit of mind which you can never fail 
to associate with the memory of our departed friend, the 
disposition to enjoy whatever in your lot is to be inno- 
cently enjoyed, and to regard as lightly as you innocently 
may, the evils that must be endured ; the disposition to 
make the best of the present, and to hope, as far as God 
permits, for the future. 

3. You will remember his flow of kindness. The 
cheerfulness, of which I have spoken, consisted in no 
small measure of good nature. No malign aftbctions or 
envious feelings shadowed his brow, or saddened his 
heart. Kindness was planted in his nature, and over- 
flowed in his words and deeds. The poor who were 
around him enjoyed it. The servants who attended him 
loved him for it. The early companions to whom he 
rendered his little oflices of friendship, attest it. Hard 
drinkers whom he labored to save from ruin remember it. 
He sought the happiness of all about him as he had oppor- 
tunity, and in a pleasant way, in little things as well as 
great, and in accommodation to their feelings, as avcII as 



16 

their necessities. For this you loved him, and in this I 
exhort you to be like him. We were not made, each for 
himself alone. We are mutually dependent, and an- 
swerable to our dependence are the sympathies dispos- 
ing us to mutual kindness. Were these always followed, 
under the guidance of enlightened reason, and the dic- 
tates of our moral nature, how would they increase the 
amount of human happiness, how would they conform us 
to the image of Him, whose glory it is to exercise loving- 
kindness and judgment and righteousness in the earth. 
They are not holiness ; but under the light and power of 
the gospel, through the Spirit, they lead to it, and witli- 
out them vain are all pretensions to it. " He that loveth 
not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love 
God, whom he hath not seen? " 

4. Sincerity, also, is a shining virtue in which he, 
being dead, yet speaketh. I have already said, that one 
who best knew him remembers no instance in which, 
after he was old enough to act from principle, he inten- 
tionally deceived him. We all, I presume, may say the 
same. He made no false pretensions. He never said 
what he did not mean. He would not equivocate to 
hide a fault, or compass an end. He was thoroughly 
honest. He was to be trusted in any concern. And 
how much is this to be said of any one ! Society is 
founded in confidence, and confidence in sincerity. Did 
the young men before me know how mucJi their success 



17 

ill life, to say nothing of tJieir estimation in the siglit 
of God, mnst depend on their sincerity — their incor- 
ruptible integrity — their so conducting themselves in 
circumstances of trial, that those who know them shall 
feel that they are implicitly to be trusted, they would be 
less ambitous than most men are, of what they call the 
gifts of fortune. Character is the main thing. It was 
with Joseph. It was with David. It was with Daniel. 
"Come, ye children," the voice of wisdom cries, "heark- 
en nnto me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 
What man is he that desireth life and loveth many days, 
that he may see good ? Keep thy tongue from evil, and 
thy lips from speaking guile." 

5. His modesty was not less distinguished. You will 
not mistake modesty for bashfulness, the timidity that 
would unfit you to act as you feel, and ntter what you 
know. Our lamented i'riend was remarkably self- 
possessed, and yet how very far he was from that im- 
pudent boldness which can not blush, and from tlial 
overweening self-estimation also which thrusts one inio 
positions nnsuited to his condition or his years! His 
powers early began to be developed — some of them, at 
least, shone eminently for his years — and they shone 
amidst his youthful modesty as a diamond set in pearls. 
Some of you remember him, while yet in his minority, 
addressing us in one of our Lyceum lectures, on the 



18 

habits of birds. You can not have forgotten what care- 
liil observation, what comprehensive knowledge, what 
lively I'ancy, what amiable feeling, and what powers of 
description, the lecture discovered, and how much it ex- 
cited our admiration ; and none the less because it was 
read with down-cast eyes and a trembling hand. The 
grace which thus adorned his earliest youth was not 
tarnished in his subsequent life. As years advanced, he 
could not be insensible that his condition was above the 
common rank ; but he ailected no superiority on that 
account. Returning from abroad, where he had been 
conversant with people of rank, and received from them 
flattering attentions, he was, no less than before, conde- 
scending to men of low estate. In his professional 
course, rising at once into eminence — known, applauded 
and sought for almost throughout the country — he yet re- 
tained his simplicity of character and manners to the last. 
I need not dwell on these things. I mention them, only 
to remind you of what you must have observed, and per- 
suade you to copy what you must have admired. 

6. Nor was he less remarkable for his choice of worthy 
objects of pursuit. From his early years, he had no 
relish for low gratifications. It required no pains to 
keep him from the smoking, chewing, drinking habits 
into which so many lads eagerly run ; nor from the vul- 
gar profaneness which they are apt to indulge — nor 



19 

from the places of idle resort which many of Ihem so 
unhappily frequent; he sought higher enjoyments, a 
Christian home, useful books, and good society. He had 
an early thirst for knowledge; he read easily, rapidly, 
with discrimination and reflection, and so remembered 
what he read. He studied the book of nature, admiring 
it as the book of God, carefully observing the forms and 
habits of beasts and birds and fishes and insects. He 
treasnred up his observations, and added to his stores 
from books. It was his passion for natural history, that 
seems to have led him to the choice of a farmer's life, 
nnd to the studies that would best qualify him to pursue 
it. His aim was not to be merely a farmer, but to carry 
into the business of a farm, and the place in society 
naturally connected with it, the varied and comprehen- 
sive knowledge that would make both these pleasant, im- 
proving and useful. For this purpose, he devoted his 
winters to study, while his summers — some of them, 
at least — were spent in the labors of a farm. Having 
made a commendable proficiency in common learning 
at home, he availed himself of some of the best advan- 
tages abroad, in the study of the German and French 
languages, of Chemistry and Natural and Moral philo- 
sophy, of Astronomy, Law and Music, and this, while 
he thought only of being a practical farmer; and with 
this prospect, he spent his nineteenth summer in the 



20 

independent management and personal culture of a part 
of his father's farm. I mention these things, not because 
it is to be expected, or desired, that the young men here 
present should pursue exactly this course, but to shew 
them the noble aim of one who was only a few steps 
before them in the journey of life, and while he thought 
of the same occupation with theirs, and to stimulate 
them by his example — though they may not have the 
same advantages — to make the best use of such as they 
have. The result in his case, you know. His acquisitions 
in this country encouraged him to seek higher and rarer 
acquisitions abroad ; and in consequence ol these, in his 
twenty-fifth year, he led the way in this country in one of 
the most interesting and useful applications of science to 
practical purposes which the age aftbrds. Providence may 
not have the same honor in store for you all, but its gifts are 
not exhausted. Worthy objects are not few, not far oif. 
Seek, and you shall find. It was not by a single, happy 
choice alone that he whose example now calls you to 
this, was what he became. The useful and the good 
determined his general aims. I may mention, as an 
instance, that when he began to be extensively known, 
and tempting ofters were made him to a more lucrative 
application of his talents and acquirements than he had 
proposed, he adhered to his original purpose, as being 
the more improving and useful. So, also, when he was 



21 

not dependent on his earnings for support, he ehose to 
eat his own bread; and when a friend proposed to make 
him an honorary member of one of our benevolent soci- 
eties, he thought it more honorable to be a member 
— as he hoped soon to become — by his personal contri- 
bution. 

7. His choice of worthy objects led him to untiriug 
industry in prosecuting them. There is nothing great 
without labor. Those who suppose, if any such there 
are, that Professor Norton attained his eminence adven- 
titiously, know not his years of study nor his intense 
application; his nights, as well as days, devoted to 
study ; and, in connection with his regular studies, the 
multitude of letters that he wrote, the daily journal 
which for twelve or fourteen years he kept, and the 
stated contributions to periodicals that he made ; and 
after his entrance on his profession, together with all 
these, his courses of lectures, his private instructions, 
his public addresses, and his printed works. He had his 
recreations ; he enjoyed them. A favorite one we knew ; 
but he adopted and continued it, merely hs a recreation, 
certainly, in his latter years, and had he indulged him- 
self in it more freely, might not his invaluable life have 
been prolonged ? In comparison of his industry with our 
own, may not the greater part of us find ourselves re- 
proved ? How much was accomplished by him in the 
few fleeting years allotted him ! He seems, indeed, to 



22 

have been quite clear, not only of the absolute indolence 
but the sluggish action and dreamy thoughtfulness, in 
which so much of life is ordinarily wasted. Earnest in 
purpose, strong in conception, exact in discrimination, 
and careful and settled in liis conclusions, he acquired 
rapidly, he was fully possessed of what he knew, he 
wrote freely and much, and moved on his ardent course, 
steadily, safely, joyfully. He lived, while he lived. 

8. Exceedingly to be admired also was his moral cou- 
rage. It was indeed no remarkable proof of this, that 
in his boyhood he adopted the temperance pledge ; nor 
that while he was in this country he adhered to it; but to 
adhere to it in foreign countries,.and in circles of fashion 
and distinction, where it is scarcely known, or known 
only to be lightly regarded, was a trial of firmness which 
it is difficult for the greater part of us duly to estimate. 
It is common for men pledged to temperance in this 
country, on going abroad, to remove tlieir names from 
the pledge. This our youthful friend would not consent 
to do. It would seem like dishonoring his early educa- 
tion. He was not unaware of the trial, but he made up 
his mind to meet it, and he fully sustained the resolution. 
At agricultural gatherings and public dinners, with the 
farmers of England and Scotland around the table — 
introduced to them by his honored teacher, as a young 
American student and farmer, and called on to join them 
in the customary glass — he stood firm in his dissent, 



23 

and yet so quietly and modestly firm as to shew thfit he 
refused, not because he lightly esteemed them, but 
because he could not be laithless to himself or the 
cause to which he was pledged. In private circles as well 
as on public occasions, and at the tables of the titled 
and the great as well as at his proper home, the habit of 
his life in this respect was too sacred to be broken ; and 
though wondered at, and sometimes remonstrated with ibr 
his singularity, his purpose was not changed. He would 
not obtrude his opinions on others, nor censure them for 
habits which he could not approve; and much less 
would he take upon himself the office of a reprover of 
those whose age and position in society demanded his 
deference ; but neither would he forego his privilege or 
deny his accountableness as a servant of God. The 
same integrity marked his observation of the sabbath. 
Whether at home or on a journey, he remembered the 
day of sacred rest. In his journeys, he chose to stay 
behind with strangers in a strange land, while his com- 
pany passed on, rather than enjoy their society in viola- 
tion of his own convictions; and when others around 
him freely gave and received visits of complaisance, on 
the sabbath, as on other days, he could by no means 
sacrifice his sense of duty to customs of civility. Such 
firmness, however it may temporarily displease, it is 
impossible to despise. There is, indeed, a self-willed 



24 
pertinacity ^liich assumes its name, and is as unlovely 
as it is troublesome ; but to be firm on any point because 
so is the will of God, and to unite that firmness with " the 
meekness of wisdom," as did the Apostles, when forbid- 
den to preach in the name of Jesus, is the highest 
victory which man can achieve. And this brings me to 
remark : 

9. That it was chiefly the piety of this beloved young 
man by which he, being dead, yet speaketh. This was 
his crowning virtue, and gave to his other virtues their 
highest excellence, the character of holiness. This raised 
his filial reverence into godly fear; his constitutional 
cheerfulness into spiritual joy; his natural kindness into 
Christian benevolence ; his honesty into godly sincerity; 
his modesty into humility; his elevation of purpose into 
devotion to Christ; his habits of industry into diligence 
in duty ; and his firmness into conscientious obedience. 
This stamped his virtues with immortality, and made his 
bright career on earth an opening into unfading glory in 
heaven. " All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man 
as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the 
flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord 
endureth for ever, and this is that word which by the 
gospel is preached unto you." 

The word of the Lord first took perceptible and per- 
manent effect in his mind early in the year 1838, at the 



25 

commencement of a revival of religion in this town, 
when he was in his sixteenth year; but it was not till 
the summer of 184 1, that, as he supposed, he truly and 
heartily yielded himself to God, in the faith of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. The sudden death of a companion roused 
him from his indecision to give his mind to eternal 
things, and by the Holy Spirit, soon resulted in his con- 
version, and the following autumn, in his public profes- 
sion of religion, which ever since, at home and abroad, 
in private and in public life, in his early and later rela- 
tions, in the even tenor of a consistent, Christian life, for 
these eleven years, he has maintained and adorned. Con- 
versant as his studies led him to be with the laws 
of nature, he did not overlook the God of nature, and in 
his professional lectures, he was not forgetful of referring 
his hearers to the manifestations of the Creator, in the 
works of his hand, which he led them to examine ; and 
their relations to him as the objects of his beneficence 
and the accountable subjects of his government. 

When he came to die, his religion did not fail him. 
Just entering upon a profession to which he was enthusi- 
astically devoted ; meeting in it with unlooked for appro- 
bation and success, and seeing a boundless field of 
research and discovery opening before him, we do not 
wonder that he desired to live ; nor that, when he could 
not but know the dangerous nature of his disease, he 



26 

was yet unwilling to believe that it would prove mortal. 
Until a few clays previous to his death, his hopes, and 
probably the tenor of his thoughts, turned on living ; 
still when told plainly that it was thought he would soon 
die, he was not discomposed. " This is sudden," he said, 
" and is it really so ? does the physician think so ? " 
Being answered in the affirmative, he said, " then leave 
me a little while to myself," — and closing his eyes he 
seemed to give himself to reflection and prayer, till some 
half hour had passed — when, turning himself to his wife 
at his bedside, he exclaimed — " glorious immortality !" 
and from that moment he manifested no further care for 
life, or any thing pertaining to it, but with the tenderest 
affection to all about him, and ardent breathings after 
heaven, he waited for his departure. 

With two or three reflections I shall conclude. 

1. The Providence of God was remarkably manifested 
in leading on our departed friend in his distinguished 
course. Though more than most young men addicted to 
forethought and system and perseverance — his final 
course was altogether aside from any original plan or de- 
sign of his own, or any of his friends. The first design 
concerning him was his education at college ; when this 
was abandoned, it was, that he should become a farmer; 
and when first he went abroad to qualify himself as a 
teacher, little did he, or others, suppose that while yet in 



27 



his youth, he would be so widely known and esteemed 
both as a teacher and an author. And yet, now we see 
that all the steps in his path, from his earliest years, tend- 
ed to this, as though they were planned with reference 
to it, and prosecuted with the exactest care. Well did 
the prophet say: "O Lord, I know that the way of man 
is not in himself It is not in man that walketh to direct 
his steps." Well, too, does the voice of wisdom cry: 
" Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to 
thine own understanding. Li all thy ways acknowledge 
him and he shall direct thy paths." There is a Provi- 
dence in the affairs of men, which we must be blind not 
to see, and sottish to refuse devoutly to acknowledge. 

2. The same Providence that conducted him in his 
course of life, must be acknowledged in its termination 
by death. The one of these involves the other. There 
could be no divine hand in overruling the changes of his 
life, that did not equally decide the last great change in 
his death. We admire the goodness of the one. Let us 
bow to the sovereignty of the other. " The Lord reigneth, 
let the earth rejoice. Clouds and darkness are around 
about him : righteousness and judgment are the habita- 
tion of his throne." "He giveth not account of any of 
his matters, and who will say unto him, what doest thou?" 
It is for himself to explain the mysteries of his govern- 
ment, and for us to wait, in submissive silence, the ap- 



28 

pointed hour, — knowing that his ways are right, and his 
counsels wise ; that light is sown for the righteous, and 
gladness for the upright in heart ; that whatever dark- 
ness may for the present veil his designs, the cloud will 
be removed ; it will be seen and confessed that he hath 
done all things well. 

Finally, this affecting death renews to us the admoni- 
tion so often repeated of the vanity of man as mortal. 
Only a few months since, there was scarcely a young 
man in our country, whose condition the deceased would 
have preferred to his own. Now, how changed, and but 
for that which is above what flesh is heir to, how vain to 
him now were the advantages, the acquirements, the 
fame, and the virtues themselves, by which he was dis- 
tinguished ! Blessed be God, there is a life, " unmeasured 
by the flight of years. There is an inheritance incor- 
ruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away." There 
is a glorious conqueror, standing on the ruins of two 
hundred generations, and proclaiming, "I am the re- 
surrection and the life : he that believeth on me, though 
he were dead yet shall he live. Whosoever livetli and 
believeth on me shall never die." May you all aspire to 
that nobler life. May you all believe in him who holds 
out to you the heavenly gift. Suffer no delay; for on 
your immortal being hangs the dread alternative of eter- 
nal life or eternal death. Trust not to youth, to health. 



29 

to a course of prosperity unbroken in the past, or to pros- 
pects yet brightening in the future. Think of him who 
had all these to lean upon and who now lies silent in the 
grave. No, not silent ; for " being dead he yet speaketh ;" 
and the accents are, "my days are past, my purposes 
are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart." "Cease 
ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein 
is he to be accounted of?" "Trust ye in the Lord for- 
ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." 
Amen. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

OF 

JOHN PITKIN NORTON 

BT 

PROF. WILLIAM A. LARNED, 

OF YAIiK COIiLE^GK. 



JOHN PITKIN NORTON. 

From tlie Ni'W EiiKlriiKlt'r for Nov., 1S52. 

Since the publication of our last number, Yale College 
lias been called to suHvr a severe loss in the death of 
Prof. Kingsley and of Prof. Norton. Our readers Avill 
expect from us, we presume, some account of these 
gentlemen, the one of whom was so well known from 
his labors of fifty years in the cause of sound learning, 
and the other from the promising commencement of 
labors, which bid fair to be long protracted and extensively 
useful. 

The death of John Pitkin Norton is one of those events 
of Divine Providence, which are designed as " trials of 
faith," and tests of the infinite value of eternal hopes. 
In the case of those who are removed from life, not un- 
til they have completed their appropriate work, we mourn, 
but not because we see plans unfinished, aims frustrated, 
and the unity of life marred and broken. We miss the 
friendly greeting, the trust of well-tried aftection, the com- 
munication of knowledge and counsel ; the habitual asso- 
ciations of our lives are sundered, and we are saddened at 
the natural suspension, only a suspension we may hope — of 



32 

the offices of love and friendship. But when those are 
taken away who have made faithful preparation for the re- 
sponsibilities of manhood, and have just commenced the 
serious business of life, with the fairest prospects of suc- 
cess, we mourn besides for plans broken off', labors un- 
finished, hopes disappointed, affections crushed in the 
bloom, and, in this reversal of the ordinary course of na- 
ture, we can only bow with reverence before the mystery 
of Divine Providence. 

We attempt a memorial of our friend, not alone from 
personal considerations, but on account of his pure moral 
and Christian character, and also of the service, which, 
in his short course, he rendered to his country, in the 
earliest establishment, in our land, of a Collegiate School 
of Agricultural Chemistry. 

John Pitkin Norton was born at Albany, N. Y., July 19, 
1822. In 1835, the family returned to its ancient seat in 
Farmington, Conn., and he there received his early 
education in the well-known school of Simeon Hart. 
From an early period, young Norton was a student of na- 
ture. For his was one of those minds, which have in 
their original structure, a decisive impulse towards a de- 
finite course of action — an inclination towards a parti- 
cular form of development. This aptitude, however, 
was not for the mere enjoyment of nature, a poetic im- 
pulse simply ; it was rather a philosophical turn of mind. 



33 

which led him to the observation of the material worid, 
and of the phenomena of animal and vegetable life. He 
studied as well as enjoyed — he reflected as well as saw. 
This d isposition is sometimes misunderstood . An inten se 
but quiet interest, such as ^^outh of a particular bent of 
Of cuius possess, often producesan indifference to studiesout 
of a certain range. There is activity of mind enough and 
power enough,but it is not manifested in the usual way. It 
has been said of several men of great genius, that they were 
dull in youth. This we apprehend is a mistake. Such are 
merely inactive where others are active ; the stream flows, 
only not in the usual channels, and all the deeper for 
flowing by itself That boy is not inactive, a mere idler, 
who lies upon the ground by the hour, watching the spider 
spin its web, or the insect wing its flight, or even the 
worm trail its way on the slime. He is not an idler who 
follows the bee in its industrious toils, and the birds in 
their busy pleasures, to learn their ways of life. He is 
not an idler, who gathers the pebbles and the crystal 
stones, not as playthings to be admired, but as objects to 
be arranged, and somehow put into classes. Mr. Norton 
belonged to this order of minds. He had an original 
genius for natural science ; he took an absorbing pleasure 
in the observation of natural objects. We were much 
interested in an accoimt of his first scientific study, 
which we received from Theodore Dwight, Esq., of New 



34 

York, who had the dh'ection of his studies the first winter 
he was sent i'roni lionie to school. Mr. Dwigiit says : 
" In my first interview with John, I found he had a de- 
cided aversion to every branch of study, especially Latin 
and Greek. I sought for some pursuit in which he might 
feel some interest, but went through the whole range of 
sciences and literature without success, when at last I 
mentioned mineralogy. There I found him alive, and 
willing to answer questions, and I soon learned that he, 
for two years or more, had appropriated his money to the 
purchase of minerals, and had a large collection. I in- 
quired anxiously how he had arranged them ; and he re- 
plied that he had made three attempts to arrange them, 
according to their colors and names, and had found that 
they could not be classified by anybody. I assured him of 
the contrary, and told him that the proper principle was 
that of their composition. He immediately inquired how 
any person could know what stones are made of. I ex- 
plained, in a simple manner, analysis and synthesis, and 
promised him that he should begin the next day to de- 
compose minerals, and (what pleased him more, although 
he did not half believe it possible) compound and form 
some himself" Henceforth, there is no want of interest 
in his studies ; and from the hour of this conversation, 
he became one of the most hard-working scholars of his 
lime. A certain modesty of disposition, and a diffidence 



35 

of himself, whiclj was inorensod by liis inaptltudo to Ihe 
ordinary studies of the schools, had hitlierto hindered the 
free, natural development of his powers; and he did not 
get upon the right track, till the sagacity of Mr. Dwight 
pointed it ont, and set him forth npon it. 

It had hccn determined he shonld he a farmer. It 
was his own choice, and his father had readily acqniesced 
in it, althongh very wisely making it a condition of his 
assent, that he should be educated for thai husiness. It 
may seem strange that we give prominence to this cir- 
cumstance. But a specific education for the pnrsnits oi' 
the agriculturist, on a broad scale, was a thing almost 
unknown at that time in this country, and if it is more 
common now, it is in great part owing to this very ex- 
ample. This education was to be no snperficial one ; it 
was to be both practical and theoretical. The summers 
were to be spent in work, and the winters in study. We 
will draw out the course of his edncation a little in de- 
tail, as we think it a very good one, and it may suggest 
valuable hints to others. The farming season of 1838 
was spent with E. C. Delavan, at Ballston Centre, N. Y., 
who had an extensive farm, worked by intelligent Scotch 
laborers, with whom he was employed almost constantly. 
The fall and winter of 1838-39 was passed in Albany, 
studying French, mathematics, music and drawing. 
The working season of 1839 was spent on his father's 



farm in Farmington, and the following winter in Brook- 
lyn, N. Y., under the direction of Mr. Dwight, to which 
we have already referred. The next summer (1840) was 
spent in Farmington, in work on the farm, and the fol- 
lowing winter (1840-41) in New Haven, attending lec- 
tures upon chemistry, mineralogy, and natural philoso- 
phy. We must not omit to mention also, that he attended 
the lectures of Dr. Taylor, on theology, for, though it 
is a part of an agricultural education which might be 
omitted, it seems like going back to a better age, to be- 
hold the science of theology brought within the range 
of the studies of a well educated man. Mr. Norton 
made this year his first public effort. He delivered a 
well written and interesting lecture before a Lyceum, in 
the place of his residence, upon the subject of birds, and 
defended their cause so well, as to secure the passage of 
a law, at the next town-meeting, for their protection. 
The summer of 1841 was spent as usual on the farm, and 
the winter (1841-42) at New Haven, in the laboratory 
of the Professors Silliman. The next summer (1842) was 
passed at home, and the following winter (1842-43) in 
Boston, where he attended courses of lectures on chem- 
istry and anatomy, and also the lectures of Doct. Harris, 
on entomology, and of Prof Greenleaf, on law. The 
summer of 1843 was spent in Farmington, and this sea- 
son he took the entire charge of a portion of his father's 



37 

farm, trying the experiment of farming on liis own ac- 
count. The winter of 1843-4 was spent in New Haven, 
again in tiie Yale College laboratory, under the instruc- 
tion of the same distinguished teachers. 

The extensive course of study wliich Mr. Norton had 
been pursuing for the past six years, had opened before 
him a new and wide field of usefulness. He felt the ne- 
cessity of a more specific course of agricultural educa- 
tion than could be obtained in this country, and he de- 
termined to prepare himself to become an instructor in 
Agricultural Chemistry. This was done with no ambi- 
tious views of attaining to any higher distinction, but 
solely with the purpose of making himself more useful 
to the agricultural community, whose interests he had 
identified with his own. Agriculture was the first pur- 
suit that strongly awakened his feelings, and the promo- 
tion of its interests was the ruling purpose of his life. 
Rarely have the powers of any individual heen more ex- 
clusively devoted to one great end, than were those of 
Mr. Norton to agriculture. 

Having determined to prepare himself to give instruc- 
tion in agriculture, he resolved to make that preparation 
as complete as possible. All his plans in this respect 
were fully approved by his father, who from the first had 
taken the most enlarged views on this subject. After 

due inquiries, he decided to go to Edinburgh, and an ar- 
4 



38 

rangement was made by Prof. Silliman with Prof. Johns- 
ton, the distincruished professor of chemistry, in the la- 
boratory of the A^^ricultural Chemical Association in 
Edinburgh, to receive him as a pupil. He left this coun- 
try in the spring of 1844, and remained in Edinburgh 
till the spring of 1846. 

Mr. Norton was well prepared to take advantage of the 
valuable instructions now within his reach. He had 
been a diligent student for six years — a period sufficiently 
long to have carried him through a collegiate and almost 
a professional course of study ; for the interruption by 
the labors of the summer, would not amount to much 
more than the usual vacations in college and professional 
schools. He was quite well acquainted with the French 
language, and could read German with ease. He had 
enjoyed the best instruction in chemistry which the 
countr^r afforded, and was, indeed, already a good prac- 
tical chemist. He felt too that he was now entering upon 
an extensive field of usefulness — that he was laboring in 
the service of his country — and that on his return, he 
would possess a power for good within his sphere which 
would perhaps belong to no other one of his countrymen. 
He entered upon his studies, therefore, with the greatest 
enthusiasm. He spent all the working hours of the day- 
light — from nine o'clock in the morning till six in the 
afternoon — without interruption, in the laboratory, while 



39 

the evening till midnig^ht Liniformly, and often later, was 
devoted to reading in French, to chemical studies, w^rit- 
ing for agricultural journals at home, in addition to the 
journal which he kept lor many years, and the long 
family letter which was weekly forwarded to his home. 
And we hesitate not to say that this correspondence and 
journal, if they were to be published, would make as 
interesting and instructive a volume of foreign resi- 
dence, as any one that has been published by our coun- 
trymen. Such was the ardor with which he prosecuted 
his chemical researches, and so closely did he confine 
himself to his single pursuit, that even the romantic 
scenery around Edinburgh and the neighboring places, 
famous in song and story, could not draw him from the 
laboratory. It was not tilt the arrival of a friend from 
America, that he visited the objects of interest in Edin- 
burgh and its environs. Nor did this devotion to his 
studies arise solely or mainly from the ambition of dis- 
tinction. It sprang from a higher principle, a principle 
of duty, which ever controlled him. " It seems to me a 
duty," he said, in writing to a friend, " tP keep one ob- 
ject in view — diligently to improve the extraordinary ad- 
vantages of my situation. This can only be done by 
withdrawing my attention from other objects, and devot- 
ing every faculty to this alone. I feel sure that I am fast 
laying up a store of knowledge, that under the pro- 



40 

vidence of God, will make nie to be of much use in my 
own country. The field opens wider and wider as I ad- 
vance, and I often feel discouraged at the mountain of 
labors which rises before me." These were not idle 
words. They meant all that tliey express. We have 
never known the man whose conduct was more g^overned 
by a sense of duty. 

These unremitted labors w^ere not without their results. 
Mr. Norton soon attained to g^reat accuracy in his expe- 
riments, and his analyses could be entirely relied on as 
faithfully made. He shunned no toil, he concealed no 
mistakes. If any analysis did not come out as it should 
have done, he kneu not the art of conjecturino^ what the 
fiofures should have been, but went over with the work 
again. His progress was such, that Professor Johnston 
advised him to prepare papers for the British Association, 
which he did. Two papers of his were read at the meeting 
of that body in Cambridge, and were well received. 
By the advice of the same judicious instructor and friend, 
he entered into a very minute analysis of the oat. 
These investigations cost him the labor of almost eighteen 
months, and when they were completed, the naemoir 
was presented to the Highland Agricultural Society, and 
received the prize of fifty sovereigns, which it had offered 
for the best essay on the subject. We can not give to the 
uninitiated anything like an adequate conception of the 
labor expended upon these researches. We may say in 



41 

general, using the language of the Journal of Science, in 
which the memoir was republished, that " commencing 
with the young plant, he followed it through its success- 
ive stages of growth and development to its naaturity. 
The results are presented in thirty-nine tables, containing 
hundreds of accurate and minute analyses, giving the 
composition of the oat from the dift'erent parts of the 
plant, separately, viz : the leaf above and below, the 
stalk, the knots, the grain, &c., besides the organic con- 
stitution of the grain " This is by far the most thorough 
examination of the oat which has ever been made — and 
his labors possess the advantage that subsequent inquirers 
may implicitly rely upon them, and begin where Mr. 
Norton left off. 

But beside the scientific labors of the laboratory, Mr. 
Norton made many agricultural excursions in company 
with Prof. Johnston, into different parts of Scotland and 
England, in wliich they examined the best cultivated 
farms in the kingdom. Mr. Norton's personal experience 
in farming, enabled him to turn these visits to the great- 
est advantage. He also attended agricultural festivals, 
and was called up for speeches at the festive boards. 
Full accounts of these expeditions were published in the 
Albany Cultivator, of which he was a regular correspond- 
ent during his residence abroad. His opportunities in 
this respect were unsurpassed, and the practical know- 



. 42 

ledge which he thus gained of Scotch and English farming, 
he applied with great judgment to the different circum- 
stances of agriculture in this land. For the great 
advantage accruing to him from these expeditions, he 
was indebted to Prof. Johnston, by whose means he was 
introduced into the society of agriculturists, which 
would not usually be accessible to yoimg students from 
abroad. Indeed, we can not leave this part of our subject, 
without expressing the gratitude which the friends of 
Mr. Norton feel, and which we know he always felt, to 
Prof. Johnston, for the fidelity with which he directed 
and watched over his studies, for the kindness which he 
manifested towards him in the social relations of life, and 
for the interest which he took in his reputation and suc- 
cess as a man of science. 

While in Scotland, Nr. Norton worshipped in llie Free 
Church, and rejoiced in the enthusiasm and martyr-like 
spirit, which accomplished that wonderful movement. 
He heard most of the distinguished preachers of that 
church. Sunday was ever to him a day of enjoyment, 
and though a stranger to his fellow-worshippers, he was 
always present at church, joining his voice with the 
congregation in their praises of God. Mr. Norton returned 
with a very high estimation of the Scotch people. In 
one respect, however, he found himself not a little at 
variance with them. He had grown up in the most un- 



43 

qualified observance of tlie strictest temperance pled«.>e, 
and it is not known that he ever, except as a child, tasted 
any alcoholic liquors. He also had been trained to the 
early New England strictness, in keeping holy the sabbath 
day. In his various excursions and visits, his principles 
on each of these points were severely tried, but in no 
single instance did he in the least degree deviate from 
them. Nor was this with him a matter of singularity or 
a proud defiance of public sentiment. It cost him, on the 
contrary, as appears from frequent reference to it in his 
letters, a very great sacrifice of feeling. But it was a 
question of duty, and he firmly did what he thought to be 
right. And this was not without its reward, for he after- 
wards had the satisfaction of knowing that his example 
had a beneficial influence in two or three particular cases. 
But, universally, Mr. Norton was a strictly conscientious 
man, and the severity of his daily studies was never 
permitted to interfere with his religious duties. 

Mr. Norton returned to this country in the spring of 
1846, havin^- first made a flying visit to the continent 
with reference to pursuing his studies in some one of the 
celebrated laboratories there. 

On Mr. Norton's return to this country, it was thought 
important to secure the services of so able and valuable 
a man to Yale College. Professor Silliman, Sen., with 
his usual promptness in the cause of science, took the 



44 

matter in hand, and appearing before the corporation, at 
their annual meeting, at commencement, in 184G, 
presented tiie importance of having such a professorsiiip 
in some way connected with the college. This proposal 
was made at a most fortunate time. It had louir been 
the wish of the college officers to have a department, in 
which some of the collegiate studies, such as philosophy, 
philology, pure mathematics, and the like, might be 
prosecuted by graduates under systematic instruction, 
and in which also, not only graduates, but others not 
graduates, who should be properly qualified, might be 
trained to fulfill in a manner creditable to the country, 
the office of the civil engineer, of the scientific miner and 
geologist, of the scientific agriculturist, and the like ; 
thus furnishing society with a body of highly educated 
men, in its various departments, and introducing in fact, 
new liberal professions among the learned professions. 
This movement in behalf of the physical department, fell 
in with this long cherished desire ; the matter was dis- 
cussed on general principles ; and from this discussion 
arose what has since been called. The Philosophical 
Department of Yale College. As we regard this movement 
one of great importance to the college, and to the country, 
and as Mr. Norton was the Ibunder and architect of one 
of the most important branches in this department, we 
have thought it best to put on record all the documents 
relating to this subject. 



45 

The first clociiiiient is tiie resolution of tlie corporation, 
establishing two new professorships, passed August 19, 

1846: 

Wherkas, it has been represented to this corporation, that a benefactor 
of tlie college proposes to give live thousand dollars lor the endowment 
of a Professorship of Agricultural Chemistry, and of Vegetable and 
Animal Physiology, provided that twenty thousand dollars be raised for 
that purpose : 

Resolved, That there be established in this college, a Professorship of 
Agricultural Chemistry and of Vegetable and Animal Physiology, for the 
purpose of giving instruction to graduates and others not members of the 
undergraduate classes: and that the corporation will now proceed to 
elect a professor of those branches of science, that while efforts to 
complete the endowment are in progress, he may devote himself to studies 
preparatory to his entering on the duties of that office — it being under- 
stood and provided that the support of this professor is in no case to be 
chargeable to the existing funds or resources of the college. 

Resolved, That there be also established a Professorship of Practical 
Chemistry, for the purpose of giving instruction to others than members 
of the undergraduate classes, in respect to the application of chemistry, 
and the kindred sciences, to the manufacturing arts, to the exploration of 
the resources of the country, and to other practical uses; and that a 
professor be now appointed to that office, whose compensation, till other 
provision can be made, shall be derived exclusively from fees for instruc- 
tion, and for other services. 

Resolved, That President Day and Professors Silliman, Kingsley, 
Olmsted, Woolsey and Salisbury, be a committee to report at the next 
annual meeting of the corporation, or at any intervening meeting which 
may be convenient, their opinion of the expediency of arrangijig under a 
distinct department of the univei'sity, those courses of instruction which 
are or may be given to others than members of the undergraduate classes, 
and which are not included in the departments of theology, law and 
medicine, and that if in their opinion such a department is expedient, 
they report such arrangements and regulations as may be requisite for 
the full organization of the department. 



46 

These two professorships were filled by the appoint- 
ment of Mr. Norton to the former, and of Mr. Benjamin 
Silliman, Jr., to the latter. Instruction in these profess- 
orships was postponed till the )^ear following. We may 
remark that Mr. Norton did not accept a professorship in 
Vegetable and Animal Physiology, although his name 
appears as professor of those branches in the college 
catalogue of that year. 

We give next the report of the committee, whose ap- 
pointment is recorded in the preceding resolution. It 
was presented to the corporation, August 19th, 1847, and 
accepted : 

" The committee appointed by the corporation of Yale College, to 
consider whether it is expedient to form a fourth department in this col- 
lege, for the instruction of other than undergraduate students, beg leave 
to report: 

That in their judgment it is expedient to form such a department, and 
that for several reasons. Some of these reasons are : 

1. That there is a demand on the part of our graduates and others, 
for instruction in particular lines beyond what is wanted, or can be given 
in the college course. 

2. We have several endowed scholarships for graduates, and are 
likely to have more; and the advantages arising from these endowments, 
will be greatly increased by having instructions provided for the scholars 
upon them, and not leaving them to themselves. 

3. From time to time new branches of study are called for by the 
public; which if introduced into our undergraduate course, would greatly 
crowd it and interfere with its object as a course of training for the mind. 

4. It is believed that students resident here for the purpose of pursu- 
ing a specific branch will be industrious, and will have a good effect in 
promoting the spirit of study among the undergraduates. 



47 

5. We have at present the materials of such a department here on the 
ground. It is believed by your committee, that some system introduced 
into them, will greatly add to their usefulness. 

Your committee being also charged with the duty of reporting regula- 
tions for the organization of said department, should it be judged ex- 
pedient to form one, beg leave to report the following : 

1. There shall be a fourth department of instruction for other than 
undergraduate students, who are not in the departments of theology, 
medicine, and law, to be called the Department of Philosophy and 
the Arts. The department is intended to embrace philosophy, 
literature, history, the moral sciences other than law and theology, 
the natural sciences excepting medicine, and their application to the arts. 

2. Instruction in this department may be given by professors not 
belonging to the others, by professors in the academical departments, 
and by such others as the president and fellows may approve. But no 
second course of lectures on the same branch may be given, without the 
consent of the previous lecturer. 

3. All graduates of this or other colleges, and all other young men 
of fair moral character, may be allowed to pursue such studies included 
ill this department as they may desire. But dismissed students of this 
or other colleges, and undergraduate students, without express leave of 
the academical faculty, shall not enjoy the privileges of this department. 

4. The instructors in this department may make such arrangements 
as it respects remuneration for their instructions, as they may think 
proper. 

5. The faculty of the department shall consist of the president, and 
such professors as are actually engaged in the instruction of the depart- 
ment ; and regulations passed by the faculty, and approved by the cor- 
poration, may be the regulations of the department." 

It will be noted that there was no provision made for 
conferring degrees in this department, as is done in the 
departments of law and medicine. This was postponed 
for farther consideration. We will here anticipate the 
course of events, and present the doings of the corpora- 



48 

tion in establishing the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy, 
in this department. Throngh the influence and exertions 
of Professor Norton, a petition was presented to the 
corporation for the establishment of such a degree, at 
their meeting in July, 1851. A committee, consisting of 
President Woolsey, Dr. Day, Professor Xingsley, and 
Professor Norton, was appointed to confer upon this 
subject, and to report at the next annual meeting. The 
following is the report : 

The committee appointed last year to prepare rules for giving degrees 
in this department, if they should deem the givhig of such degrees 
expedient, report the following rides: 

1. Students in this department of the age of twenty one years, who 
have resided at the college two years, and have pursTied their studies 
for nine months in each year, may receive on examination the degree 
of Bachelor of Philosophy. 

2. The examination shall embrace, at least, three branches of study, 
and a certiticate of the examiners must be produced to the effect, that 
the examination in each branch has been satisfactory. 

3. This examination in the case of students in the physical sciences, 
shall embrace two departments of physicr.l or mathematical science, and 
either the French or German language. 

The fee for graduation shall be the same as for Bachelors of Arts, or 
Bachelors of Laws, whereupon, voted to adopt the foregoing as rules, 
under which degrees in this department shall be given. 

In the consideration of this subject, the committee had 
the advantage, it is proper to remark, of the experience 
of Harvard and Brown, where degrees of this kind had 
already been established. The degrees were conferred 



49 

at Yale, lor the lirst time, at the commencement, in 
July, of the present year. 

We would call the attention of our readers to two or 
three points in the establishment of this new department 
in the college, 

111 the first place, it was put upon the same basis as the 
professional schools of theology, law, and medicine, 
and is to be regarded as a fourth professional school. It 
was intentionally separated from the college proper, or 
the academical course of instruction. The principle, 
laid down in the reports to the corporation, written by 
President Day and Professor Kingsley, on the subject of 
the study of the classics, that a collegiate education is 
merely a preparation for a professional education, a 
general course of study fitting the student for any specific 
course which his chosen pursuit of life may require, and 
that the two should not be intermingled, was strictly 
observed. Pains were taken not to introduce any partial 
or half-way system of education into the four years 
collegiate course. It was hoped, on the one hand, that 
there would be some, as there have been, who would 
become professional scholars in the departments of 
philology, philosoph)^, mathematics and the like ; and, 
oil the other, that there would be a large number of 
graduates, who would prepare themselves, by a strictly 
professional course of instruction, for those pursuits of 



50 

life, other than theology, law, and medicine, which 
require a peculiar education. This has been the case to 
some extent, and the tendency in that direction is 
increasing. It is beginning to be felt that college 
education, in the discipline of the powers and the 
balancing of the faculties of the mind which it gives, 
not only does not disqualify, but lays, in general, the 
best foundation, for the after education of the scientific 
farmer, of the enlightened merchant, and of men in the 
various departments of active life, which manufactures, 
rail roads, mining, and the like, open to the educated. 

In the second place, the establishment of this new 
department recognized the fact, that there are very 
many in the community, who for various reasons, can 
not go through with the preparatory studies in a 
collegiate course, and was intended to give such the best 
opportunities possible for their professional education. 
The age (twenty one) which the degree of Bachelor of 
Philosophy requires, shows that it was regarded by the 
corporation as a testimonial of a completed preparation 
for the active duties of life — as in the case with the 
degrees in law and medicine. 

Finally, in the institution of this new department, the 
corporation of the college proceeded with cautious steps, 
and with a wise foresight of the necessities of education 
in our land. Schools of physical science might be dis- 



51 

sociated I'rom the university, as is sometimes done. We 
think, however, that in connecting the departments of 
agricultural chemistry, of chemical analysis, and of 
civil engineering, with the general department of 
philosophy, and making the whole one of the pro- 
fessional schools connected with the college, the 
corporation have acted with the wisdom which has 
uniformly characterized their proceedings. It places 
the interests of the higher education of our land in the 
hands of those who will give to it an elevated and liberal 
character. In all these views of the corporation Prof. 
Norton fully acquiesced. Indeed, his own education, 
(of which the corporation had expressed their estimate, 
by conferring upon him the honorary degree of Master 
of Arts,) had been of too liberal a kind — in point of time 
equal to the full academical and professional course, and 
in point of acquisition and discipline not inferior to that 
of our first scholars — ^to permit him to wish for a low 
standard. It was entirely accordant with his wishes, 
that the requisitions for the degree in this department 
were made high. 

Mr. Norton returned to Europe in the fall of 1 846, and 
entered the laboratory of Mulder, at Utrecht. His 
progress here was rapid and satisfactory. He went 
forward in his analyses with somewhat of the confidence 
of a master, and he frequently speaks in his letters, with 



52 

enthusiasm, of his " beautiful results." He pursued his 
researches here with the same laborious diligence as at 
Edinburgh, often being in the laboratory twelve or 
fourteen hours a day, and reserving the hours of the 
night, till after midnight, for the study of German and 
Dutch, for writing for the Cultivator, and for his 
extensive correspondence with his family and friends. 
He was again very fortunate in his teacher. Mulder 
took a great interest in his success, and devised and 
forwarded useful plans of study for him. During his 
residence there, he made an agricultural excursion 
through North Holland, to become acquainted with the 
practice of farming in that region. He returned in July, 
1847, having been with Mulder nine months. 

Mr. Norton had now completed his education, and 
was prepared to enter upon the serious business of life. 
He commenced his duties as professor in the fall of 
1847. He was married to Miss Elizabeth P. Marvin, of 
Albany, N. Y., in December of the same year, and 
having the means of living in a liberal and elegant 
manner, soon became a householder, and took his part 
in all the duties of social life. Universally esteemed in 
society, beloved by all who knew him, and uncommonly 
happy in his own home, he began life with the fairest 
prospects. 

The philosophical department, as we have already 



i)li 



rcMiiarked, cmbrares several branches of study. Most oi' 
these had for some years previous, been more or less 
pursued by a few of the graduates of the college, and by 
others. Some had studied philology, philosophy, and 
mathematics ; there had been several scholars in the 
laboratory. The only effect of the establishment of the 
new department as to these, was, to give more system 
to the instruction. There were no new professorships in 
them. The professorship of practical chemistry was a 
new one, and would have become an important depart- 
ment, had not Prof Silliman, Jr., been early called away 
to a wider field, in the Medical College, at Louisville, 
Ky. We shall, therelbre, limit our subsequent remarks 
to the single proiessorship of agricultural chemistry. 
Indeed, the philosophical department, so far as it was 
new, rested entirely upon that professorship. 

We are to speak now of the work which he 
accomplished, in the few years of manhood — a little 
less than five years — which were allotted to him. The 
department of Agricultural Chemistry was to be created. 
It was new in the country. It was doubtful whether 
the public sentiment was strong enough to support it. 
The external resources lor such an undertaking Avere 
sufficiently humble. The professorship was without a 
salnry, and no better laboratory could be furnished than 
the wooden house on the college grounds, formerlv 



54 

occupied by President Dwight, and afterwards by 
President Day. Bnt Professor Norton was well fitted 
for the work he had undertaken. His acquaintance with 
the operations of the farm, gained by personal experience, 
his good sense and sound judgment, and his simple and 
gentlemanly bearing, won the regard of the farming 
community ; and he took unwearied pains, through 
addresses, lectures, more formal treatises, and numerous 
publications in agricultural journals, to disseminate 
elevated views of the necessity of scientific knowledge 
to the farmer. His influence was extensively felt, and 
was becoming stronger every year. Within the school, 
the more immediate sphere of his labors, his influence 
was equally great. He was a most admirable instructor. 
His hopeful, joyous, sympathetic disposition, his great 
equanimity, his pleasant, familiar manner, his quiet 
humor, rendered his presence in the laboratory always 
agreeable to the scholars, while his interest in their 
studies and welfare awakened a strong personal attach- 
ment. Although discouraged at his first attempts, he 
was fast becoming one of our best lecturers. He had 
firm possession of the knowledge he had acquired, and 
was thus able to give precise and definite information. 
His natural opposition to vain show kept him from the 
folly of professedly fine speaking and rhetorical decla- 
mation, while the deep interest he felt in his subject, 



6^ 

led him to communicate all the knowledo^e possible in 
the hour, and by perspicuity of style and skill of arrano^e- 
nient to make it the most available to the student. We 
have tlie testimony of the best scholars that they 
attended no lectures where they got more information. 
The number of scholars the first year was small, but it 
each year increased, till at last the experiment of the 
school was decided, a new department of professional 
study in the university was created, and a liberal and 
scientific pursuit opened to the ^^oung men of our 
country. And it is due to his memory to say, that 
during these five years of incessant toil, he received no 
salary whatever, and that tlie remuneration from tuition, 
after paying necessary expenses, would not amount to 
the wages of a day laborer. At the same time he 
had been offered a ibundation of twenty thousand 
dollars, in one of the large colleges of the country, with 
a salary of three thousand dollars, if he would devote 
himself to chemistry in its application to the arts ; and 
from time to time other lucrative places were pressed 
upon him. He however regarded the interests of 
agriculture as paramount to all others, and was not to 
be diverted from his devotion to them. He had chosen 
Yale College as the best place for the establishment of 
such a school as he was desirous of founding ; he had 
there principally received his education, and he was 



56 

deeply interested in its welfare. Indeed, when we 
consider how much he gave up in rejecting the large 
salaries which were offered elsewhere, and how much 
he expended from his own resources in the five years of 
his unpaid labors in the institution, amounting of course 
to many thousand dollars ; and his generous bequest, 
made within a few hours of his death, of all the 
apparatus of the laboratory, together with the books 
and other articles (valued at more than $2000), we 
place him prominently among those benefactors who, 
besides their services, their scientific and literary reputa- 
tion, and their lives, have given most generous donations 
to the college. 

But his instruction in the laboratory was only a small 
part of his labors. His publications were numerous, 
and of permanent value. He was a frequent writer for 
agricultural journals. He had been a more or less fre- 
quent writer for the Albany Cultivator from 1844, but in 
1850 he commenced a new series of letters, which, the 
editor says, constitutes " one of the chief attractions of 
the Cultivator." He also delivered numerous addresses 
before agricultural societies, in difierent parts of the 
country. Eight or nine of these have been published. 
His last public efibrt was the introductory to the course 
of lectures," at the opening of the University of Albany, 
N. Y., in 18r51. All these are written with perspicuity, 



o7 

and contain much valuable information. But his most 
important work is, his Elements of v^cientific Agriculture. 
This essay was written for the prize offered by the New 
York State Agricultural Society, and was successful. It 
is a most admirable treatise. We said, when it was first 
published, that it deserved to be placed in the hands of 
every farmer in the land, and we think still it is the best 
treatise, for the object it had in view, which has ever 
been written. The more it is examined, the more its 
A^alue will appear. His last work was his edition of Ste- 
phens's Farmer's Guide, to which, by the particular 
desire of the Edinburgh publishers, the Messrs. Black- 
wood, he added notes and an appendix, which would of 
themselves make a small volume, and which much in- 
creased the value of the original work. We most fully 
agree with the editor of the Cultivator, that Professor 
Norton was, " the most practical agricultural writer and 
thinker of the present time, and that his efforts promised 
more permanently beneficial results than those of any 
other man." Nor was his more strictly scientific studies 
neglected, though, judging it important, first of all, to 
awaken an interest in such studies by the dissemination 
of agricultural views, founded on science, he had not 
devoted so much time to this branch of his department 
as he would afterwards have done. What he did pub- 
lish, however, was valuable. We mention, Researches 



5i 

and Observations on the Potato Disease, published in 
the Journal of Science, yoI. ii, 281; iv, 70; On the 
Proteine Bodies of Peas and Almonds, published in 
the same Journal, vol. v, 22 ; On the Value of Soil 
Analysis, and tlie points to which special attention 
should be directed, read before the American Association 
at Albany, August, 1851, and published in their proceed- 
ings. In this paper, he was aided by William J. Craw, 
first assistant in his laboratory. This was his Inst con- 
tribution to science, and the elevated views which it 
contains of the high office of the scientific man, in 
relation to agriculture, only make more manifest the loss 
science has suftered in his death. 

But we draw nigh the closing scene. The session of 
1851 was the most prosperous one his school had en- 
joyed, and it was now made certain that a large 
chemical school would grow up under his auspices. At 
the same time, he took a deep interest in the projected 
University of Albany, in which agricultural chemistry 
was to have a prominent place, and agreed to deliver a 
coarse of lectures in that city, on that subject. Every 
thing was now prosperous with him. Useful, honored 
and beloved, he enjoyed the present, and saw before him 
an equally honorable and useful future. But, alas! his 
days were numbered, and he was approaching the grave. 
On his first journey to Albnny, he spil n little blood in 



59 

the cars. Thinking little of it, he gave his lecture as if 
nothing had happened. He raised a little blood several 
times afterwards; at last, the hemorrhage became so 
great, as to cause anxiety. A council of physicians was 
called, who pronounced the case alarming, though not 
hopeless, and advised a sojourn in a warmer climate. 
He went with his brother to Florida, and there some- 
what recovered. But on his way home he took the mea- 
sles in the city of Washington, and was much worn by 
the attack. On his return to New Haven, he looked 
better. He continued improving somewhat through the 
summer. He himself, as usual, was hopeful, though 
friends Avere fearful. He was able to do a little. His last 
public labor was conducting an examination of several 
of his scholars who were candidates ibr the degree of 
Bachelor of Philosophy. It was, perhaps, too much for 
him, but he felt a deep interest in the matter, as it was 
the first time of conferring degrees in that department. 
His last act in the service of his school, was indeed all 
that remained to its complete establishment, tis an 
institution giving both the reality and the recognized 
title of a professional education. About commence- 
ment, he was seized with a violent hemorrhage — 
recovered somewhat — went to his father's in Farming- 
ton — and there died, in the bosom of his own family. 
But how did he die ? How endured he to relinquish 



60 

his promising plans of iuture usefulness, and quench 
these hopes in death ? How endured he to leaA^e the 
home of affection, filled Avith every earthly hliss ? He 
resigned them all cheerfully, even exultingly. When 
informed at Albany, in the latter part of the day, that 
his case might terminate fatally, he slept that night as 
soundly as if he had been told he would soon be well 
again ; and when his wife, thinking he must have mis- 
understood the decision of the physicians, asked him if 
he knew what the physicians had said, he replied that 
he did — it was the will of God, and he would do what 
was best. When again, twenty-four hours before his 
death, the same faithful friend broke to him the miessage 
from his physician, that he had but few hours to live, he 
said, this is sudden, and begged, as his head felt con- 
fused, to be left to himself a little while. He closed his 
eyes, and continued in prayer and meditation for perhaps 
half an hour, and then opened them, exclaiming, " O 
glorious immortality : all is peace;" and, from this mo- 
ment, spake of his departure with all the cheerfulness of 
one who was about to set out on a pleasant journey. 
On Sunday morning, the day of his death, contrfiry to 
the expectation of the family, who supposed they had 
taken their last earthly leave of him, he opened his eyes, 
which beamed with their wonted animation and cheer- 
fulness, and he spoke to them all again with a kind of 



61 

heavenly composure, and then lell "on sleep." lie died 
on the oth of September, 1852, aged 30 years. 

Although in the accomit of his life, we have indicated 
the principal traits in the character of Professor Norton, 
we wish, for the sake of the example, to dwell upon 
them a little longer. 

His mind was characterized by strong powers of per- 
ception and observation, by the capacity of long con- 
tinued attention, and by sound practical judgment. He 
possessed in combination many of the qualities which 
belonged to his distinguished progenitors, Governor John 
Treadwell and Senator Timothy Pitkin. He took liberal 
and comprehensive views. His opinions on all subjects 
were judicious. There was an uprightness of mind 
which kept him from being misled by prejudice or fanci- 
ful speculations. For the same reason, whatever he 
undertook turned out well. He had no useless know- 
ledge ; he wasted no time in chance wanderings over the 
field of science; he studied with definite and well 
matured aims. There was also a certain joyous activity 
of mind, which made hard study in his favorite pursuits 
a positive delight. Nor was he deficient in fancy and 
imagination. He took a deep interest in the fine arts, 
especially in music, of which he was no mean proficient. 
And over all this there was thrown the charm of a quiet 

6 



62 

humor, mellowing the firmer and more serious parts of 
his character. 

Professor Norton was a thorough student. He was a 
model in this respect. His time was systematically 
divided, and each portion scrupulously spent in its 
allotted work. There were no idle moments ; no waste 
time. AVhatever was to he done, was done at once. He 
carried the prompt hahits of a business man into his 
study. It is a peculiarity which distinguishes student 
life from a life of business, that it is possible much more 
frequently to postpone the labors of the day to a future 
opportunity. Every student forms plans of study, but 
there are few who do not sufler them to be broken in 
upon or frustrated. But we should as soon have thought 
of the merchant postponing the payment of a note till 
after banking hours, as of Professor Norton postponing 
the allowed work of the hour to another time. Professor 
Norton studied with the pen in his hand. No German 
student could excel him in the diligence with which he 
took notes of the lectures he attended, or recorded his 
own observations on what he was studying. He com- 
posed with great facility and in a good style, and was 
fond of writing. He has left behind many volumes of 
manuscripts. He was in every respect a scholar, tho- 
rough, exact, and profound. 



63 

As a man, as a inenibcr of society, he was eA^ery thing 
that couid be desired. The Irankness and ingenuous- 
ness of iiis disposition, his genial good humor, and 
gentlemanly manners, made him a favorite in the social 
circle. He was always interested in the details of social 
liie, took part in all innocent amusements, and having 
worked hard enough and long enough, in his study, he 
left his toils behind him. He enjoyed life himself, and 
helped others to enjoy it. AV hat he was in the dearer 
and more intiujute relations of life, we will not attempt 
to describe ; there are joys, there are sorrows, which 
even near Iriends may not enter into. 

But, after all, it was as a man of Christian principle, 
that Prolessor Norton was most conspicuous. He early 
united himself with the Christian church, and Christian 
principles controlled the actions of his life. His firmness 
under trying circumstances has already been mentioned. 
But the same lirmness was seen in every thing. He was 
always on the right side ; no one ever doubted on any 
moral or religious subject, where he would be found. He 
made the Bible the man of his counsel, and the guide of 
his feet, and he governed his household according to its 
precepts. His life had been an uncommonly happy one. 
Prosperity smiled upon him. We have never known the 
individual who was so uniformly blessed of Providence, 
in all his undertakings. And yet, at the unexpected 



64 

summons, in the morning of life, and with every thing to 
live for, he was ready — he was cheerful. If he had a 
care, it was for those he was to leave — for the aged and 
venerable grandmother, who leaned upon him — for the 
father who had done so much for him — for the family 
circle which surrounded him — for the wife of his tender- 
est affections. He knew, he did not strive to conceal 
from himself — the pangs that would pierce them ; and 
the thoughts that were diverted from Heaven, were for 
them, to comfort and console them. 

His affections clung around his laboratory to the last 
moment. He spoke of it with the deepest interest. After 
executing a brief will, he made many verbal bequests, 
among them the one to the college. " My apparatus and 
books in the laboratory," he said, " I wish given to the 
college, if the department shall be continued. I hope it 
will be kept up ; it has cost me a great deal of labor." 

The public loss in this death is great indeed. With 
that intense devotion to one great end in life, in which 
he stood alone in this country in his department, and we 
suppose the number of such men is not large abroad ; 
with those habits of diligence which made him master of 
the vast amount of knowledge, necessary in his profes- 
sion, and that soundness of judgment which kept him 
from all speculative schemes : with that confidence Avhich 
he had already inspired into the agricultural communi- 



65 

ty : with the state of ag-ricultnro in the land, jnst in a 
condition to need and profit by the labors of such a man 
— with all this in view — we were authorized to antici- 
pate, and we now take pleasure in expressing the antici- 
pation, that he Avould have risen to the highest distinction 
in his profession, that he would have reflected high honor 
upon the college with which he was connected, and 
that he would have been of the most important service 
to his country. 

But our friend did not live in vain. He accomplished 
a good work. He left a name Avithout a blot. He be- 
queathed an example which others may be satisfied to 
equal. He founded a school, which, in accordance with 
his dying wish, we trust, the community will not suffer 
to languish, but will rear up to be his perpetual monu- 
ment; and in after years, when it shall have risen to wide- 
spread renown, and multitudes on multitudes shall have 
enjoyed its blessings, honored will be the name of John 
Pitkin Norton, its founder. 



From the Presbylerian Magazine. 

HOUSEHOLD THOUGHTS. 



"glokious immortality!" "all is peace." 

" He does well who does his best: 
Is he weary? Let him rest. 
Brothers ! I have done my best ; 
I am weary — let me rest!'* 

In a retired village in New England, amidst heantiful 
scenery of natnre, stands a mansion with all the arrange- 
ments for comfort and happiness. But death is within 
the doors! 

Not now for the first time does the conqueror come. 
Once before had he entered that Christian home. Then, 
an aged mother in Israel sunk into her last sleep before 
the touch of his sceptre. Venerable saint, with thy 
quiet brow, meek eye, comely bearing, and loving spirit, 
the house received a glory in being the birth place of 
thy departure into another world ! 

It is the sabbath. In one of the upper chambers is a 
beloved young man, soon to be numbered the second of 
the dead in that abode of love and peace. The rest of 
the Lord's day is hushed to deeper tranipiility by the 
premonitions of a fearful providence. A son. the pride 



67 

and joy — as well mi<i;lit he be — of his lather's heart, is 
nio^h nnto death. Tlie I'aiiit breathings oi' a tired frame 
announce that the last sleep is drawinj^ near. With 
kind looks to all, and with a firm faith in Christ, the 
youthful pilgrim closes his eyes on the world. 

Household grief at such a time may not be inter- 
meddled with ; but theirs is grief which loses not the 
joy of Christian hope, and which looks away from earth 
to Christ, resurrection, and glory. As the church bell, 
which for two centuries has knelled the work of death 
in that retired Puritan village,* struck on that sabbath 
its thirty notes, all knew the meaning. Fathers, 
mothers, young men, maidens, mingled their sympathies 
and ejaculations ; not a few their tears. The venerable 
pastor's heart thrilled with peculiar tenderness, for a very 
dear one of his flock had panted away life by the side 
of the spring — blessed be God, of the living spring ! 

The young man, pale in death, was the eldest so?}. God 
knows the swelling tides in the human heart. He im- 
planted natural affection, 5:-op^r,v, the vehement indAvellings 
and outgoings of a father's soul. Parents of a mortal race, 
ye receive your children for death ! The joy Avhich wel- 
comes them into the world has a kindred keenness of 

* The custom is still kept up, in many towns of New England, of 
tolling the bell when a person dies. The number of strokes indicate 
the age of the deceased. 



68 

sorrow in inoiirning them out of it. We rejoice and we 
sorrow over them. It is a privilege to have a heart, an 
overflowing heart, of human tender love. Father, that 
son deserves well the tears you weep. Over you how 
youthfully would he have wept — your eldest, darling 
child ! But the sacred gift is yours to weep for him. 
May God sanctify that unexpected, inexperienced sorrow. 
The youth is a Christian youth. On his form of manly 
beauty lies the death-betokening stillness ; for he is not 
there. He is with Christ ! At the time of death was he 
with him in Paradise. Oh, hoAV great the mercy which 
brings our young men to the cross; which brought him 
there. In the morning of life he renounced all for 
his Saviour. Trained in the good old way, he walked in 
it during the opening years of active manhood, pursued 
religion as the chief end, and was thus prepared to enter 
upon its everlasting rewards when God closed his earthly 
course. Few meditations are more welcome to survivors 
than those which are linked with eftbrts and prayers to 
bring departed ones to Christ. The "writer gratefully re- 
members a solemn interview with this dear youth in a 
retired corner of the beautiful garden out of sight except 
from the All seeing. His mind was at that time, un- 
known to me till then, concerned on religious subjects. 
God afterwards brought him to a full knowledge of the 
truth. He became a zealous Christian. He was in the 



69 

Bible class; his rich, uiicomnion voice mingled in the 
choir ; he was known as a friend of religion, of temper- 
ance, of active benevolence, of social improvement; a 
promoter of every good work. Happiest now in the work 
of heaven ! 

In a brief record of a gifted yomig man, it is not out of 
place to say that his mental endowments and acquirements 
were great and beyond his years. His mind was quick, 
regular, and trustworthy in its operations. It saw and 
did with consummate precision. The two qualities, 
however, which enabled him to accomplish so much in 
his short career were system and perseverance. At the age 
of twenty-four he was appointed a Professor in Yale 
College, and in a new department organized with some 
reference to his own adaptations to fill it with honor.^ 
He was rapidly acquiring a reputation as a scholar, a phi- 
losopher, and a writer.f But what is knowledge ? It 
shall "vanish away !" The young philosopher's chair is 
unoccupied in his library ; the laboratory misses his quick 

* The professorship was that of Analytical and Agricultural Chemis- 
try. 

t Professor John Pitkin Norton was undoubtedly the first in his depai-t- 
nient in the United States. He was a line lecturer, and had the art of 
impelling his own enthusiasm into the minds of others. He was much 
sought after to deliver jaddresses at agricultural conventions. Several 
of his addresses have been published, and are admirable specimens of 
science brought home to the people. He also published several valuable 
scientific works. 



70 

eye and steady hand, and friendly zeal. Human learning- 
is valuable in its place ; but there is a wisdom of a better 
kind, and more enduring-. This and that were both his. 

Social traits oi' a superior character were his ornament 
among his fellows. His glance was upon lite's sunny 
side. He was of generous temperament, buoyant in good 
nature, companionable, courteous, modest, kind. In ad- 
dition to his personal elements of popularity, his ancestral 
ties bound him to the community. His great-grandfather 
was good old Governor Treadwell, and his grandfather 
the Honorable Timothy Pitkin, both of Farmington, the 
residence of his own honored father, and where he 
himself had come to die. A large circle of friends, espe- 
cially in Farmington, Albany, and New Haven, will love 
to cherish his memory in mourning his loss. 

The ways of Providence are mysterious, but not the less 
wise ; often, rather be it said, therefore the more wise. 
" Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his 
saints." There is no better time to die than the appoint- 
ed time. God had been preparing his young servant for 
heaven by afflictions in the death of a child and his own 
failing health. The soul learns rapidly the lessons of re- 
ligious experience, when Providence and the Spirit are its 
associate teachers. Being ready to go why should any 
wish him to stay ? and having gone why wish him back 
ao-ain ? The 5th of September, 1852, is ns good a time 



71 

to die as any time in any year a half century hence. The 
first sabbath of autumn was his last earth-ckiv. On be- 
ing rather unexpectedly told a lew days before that he 
could not long survive, he requested to be left alone lor 
a season. Not alone ! For the family took knowledge 
of him that he had been with Jesus. His joyful tidings 
to them from another world were "Glorious immortal- 
ity !" "All is peace!" 

He was buried at New Haven, from the place of his 
late residence, in that beautiful city. " Great lamenta- 
tion was made over him ;" and he was carried to his last 
resting-place with the ingenuousgrief of alarge concourse 
of friends. 

"He does well who does his best; 
Is he weary ? Let him rest. 
Brothers ! I have done my best ; 
I am weary — let me rest ?" 

" If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so 
them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him 

The following is a meagre outline of the remarks of 
President Woolsey, of Yale College, at the grave : 

President Woolsey began with referring to Professor Kingsley's late 
decease ; that the college had just lost one, nearly the oldest of its offi- 
cers, and now it was called to mourn for Professor Norton the youngest. 

Mr. Norton was the founder in this country of the science to which he 
addicted himself, and had attained in his short course to a point where he 
commanded the respect of men of science. He bade fair to become em- 
inent in his department. He had qualified himself for it by study inEu- 



72 

rope under the most eminent chemists ; and had received, even when a 
student, most flattering testimonials to his skill in chemical analysis. 

In speaking of his character, President Woolscy said that he was a 
man of uncommonly sweet and gentle temper, characterised by placidity 
and equanimity, to which were united great patience and perseverance in 
the pursuit of whatever he had undertaken. 

He was also a man of great simplicity, very far from love of show, and 
from pretension. His lecturing was a proof of this, in which he thought 
nothing of himself, and was entirely engrossed with his subject. He 
seemed in this simplicity more like a little child than almost any man 
whom I have known. 

He was also a man of great probity. He had a natural straightfor- 
wardness, which well became the descendant of some of the worthiest 
Puritans of Connecticut. He seemed to love truth for its own sake. He 
was inflexible in doing right, and whenever a point of duty was involved 
steadily adhered to true principles. This was manifested in his con- 
stantly refusing when abroad, and after his return when thrown among 
worldly men, to do any act looking like desecration of the sabbath, and 
by his strict temperance principles in all companies, and on all occasions. 

But the crowning glory of his character was his religion, which brought 
out and gave strength to his natural good qualities. In his youth he felt the 
power of divine grace, united himself with the church in Farmington, and 
had ever since led a life consistent with his profession. Hence, when the 
summons to die came, he was not unprepared or thrown off"his guard. He 
was told that there was no prospect of his living, then calmly shut his eyes 
without a murmur, and on opening them again, turning to his wife who 
was sitting by his side, said as if he was giving utterance to the closing 
thoughts of a sweet train, "Glorious immortality !" adding shortly after, 
"All is peace!' 

Rarely do we see a character more respected by the world, or more tru- 
ly lovely, than of the young man whose body we have now laid in the 
grave. 



From lln; ('nltiv.-ilor 

OBITUARY OF PROF. NORTON^ 

Misfortunes never come singly. We had scarcely laid 

down our saddened pen, and cast an earnest look into the 

already darkened future, when another in the bloom of 

his maturity, was called hence. Calmly, peacefully, 

trustingly, he has passed to the land of his faith, to the 

home of the blest, leaving regret to border the pathway he 

had trod, and tears to water in vain the hopes which his 

usefulness had awakened. Prof Norton is dead, aged only 

thirty. 

" Those the gods love, die young, 

But they whose hearts are dry 

As summers' dust, burn to the socket." 

The lives of the truly great are always instructive, and 
could we read them rightly, would teacli us useful les- 
sons, both in the sublime results which attend their labors 
and in the mode by which their greatness has been at- 
tained. While one whose talents and accomplishments 
have distinguished him among the wise men and schol- 
ars of his day lives, we admire only the proofs of his ge- 



74 

nius and ability ; but when such an one is removed from 
our midst, we naturally inquire into the elements of his 
power. It is in this way that, when one is dead, he 
yet speaketh — speaks not only in word and in deed, but 
in the more silent operations of the mind, which are 
marked in the successive grades of culture by which one 
rises to eminence. 

Deeply as we deplore the loss of the most practical 
agricultural writer and thinker of the present time — one 
from whence the farming community expected much,and 
whose efforts promised more permanently beneficial re- 
sults than those of any other man, we shall find that his 
life, though short, is full of instruction and replete with 
interest. 

From his youth, Mr. Norton had been more or less con- 
versant with the practice of agriculture, and as is natur- 
ally the case with an inquiring mind, the apparent lack 
of system, and ruinous waste often seen, led to thought 
and investigation. After having pursued the study of 
chemistry with the ablest professors in this country, he 
visited Europe, in the summer of 1844, for the purpose 
of pursuing his studies farther than could be done here, 
and also to extend his observations. Mr. Norton accom- 
panied Prof. Johnston on a tour through Scotland, the re- 
sults of which appeared in his letters published in this 
journal. These letters, which were continued regularly 



/o 

during his absence, were his first introduction to the pub- 
lic as a writer, and established his reputation as a careful 
observer, a close reasoner, and a sound thinker. During 
his stay in Scotland he enjoyed the closest intimacy with 
Prof. Johnston, and pursued his studies under his direction 
at the Laboratory of the Agricultural Chemical Associa- 
tion. The analyses furnished by him from timc^ to Time, 
show the accuracy of his mind and his superior industry, 
and his Notes on Prof Johnston's Lectures are valuable 
abstracts, Ibrming almost a complete text book of agricul- 
tural science. All his communications to the Cultivator 
are of permanent value, and show the condition of ag- 
ricultural science in Scotland at that time. 

In the fall of 1S45, he made a tour on the continent, 
for the purpose of visiting some of the most celebrated 
laboratories, and his letters were lor a time discontinued. 
Shortly after, he returned to this country, when he re- 
ceived an appointment to a proiessorship of chemistry, 
as applied to agriculture, which had been created at Yale 
College. Mr. Norton wished to perfect himself in chem- 
istry before entering upon his duties as professor, and 
with this in view he sailed again for Europe in the tall 
of 1846. Here we notice a prominent characteristic of 
Prof. Norton. There was nothing of pretension in his 
nature — he was unwilling to assume a responsibility till 
he felt himself fully equal to it. Instead of being vain 



76 

of the honor thus early bestowed on him, he goes man- 
fully and earnestly to work to lay, deep and strong, the 
foundations of a science, of which the first rudiments 
were scarcely known. 

In the year 1846, a premium of fifty sovereigns ($250) 
was offered by the Highland and Agricultural Society of 
Scotland, for the best analysis of the oat. The chemical 
constituents and the physiology of the growth of this 
plant, were little known, and a scientific analysis had 
never been attempted. Mr. Norton, still a student in the 
laboratory, and in competition with several learned chem- 
ists, obtained this premium. This is more remarkable 
from the fact that he was an American, and unknown to 
the scientific world. The article contains thirty-nine 
tables, showing the composition of the different parts of 
the oat, and at several stages of its growth, and displays 
a vast amount of research and an untiring industry. In 
the conclusion of the article, Mr. Norton remarks — " I 
maybe permitted to say, that the extent of this investiga- 
tion, and the many points which I have been compelled 
to leave undetermined or doubtful, after eighteen months 
of constant labor, must convince those who entertain false 
ideas of the time and patience necessary for chemical re- 
searches of this kind, that they have erred in supposing 
the chemist able to do in a fcAV days or Aveeks what can 
only be effected by the labor and study of many success- 
ive years." 



77 

Howstraiigoly does Ihislanguao^o of a successful scho- 
lar contrast with the assertions of later, not to say riper 
chemists, who arrive at the most profound conclusions 
with an astonishing facility, and, in advance of public 
opinion, award to themselves the highest euloginms. 

During his stay in Europe Mr. Norton studied witli 
Prof. Mulder at TItrecht, Holland, one of the greatest 
physiologists and chemists of his day. His letters from 
Holland are admirable pictures of the rural aspect of the 
country. Upon his return to this country in the fall of 
1847, he entered upon his duties at Yale. Though at- 
tendance on the lectures in his department was volunta- 
ry, and comparatively little attention had been paid to 
agricultural chemistry by the young men in our colleges, 
he soon gathered a class of students, which was gradually 
increasing to the time of his death. His laboratory was in 
fact the only place in this country where the principles of 
science, as applied to agriculture, were thoroughly taught. 

The cares of his professorship were not his exclusive 
occupation. A Treatise on Scientific Agriculture, which 
was written as a prize essay, and took a premium of one 
liundred dollars, offered by the New York State Agricul- 
tural Society, and was subsequently published as a text 
book for schools, was prepared by him in 1850. This 
little work embodies all the fundamental principles of 
agricultural science, so lar as well established, and has 
been widely circulated. 



78 

Prof. INortoii also wrote an appendix to Stephens's 
Book of the Farm, together with notes, sueh as to adapt 
it to this country. In the Cultivator for January, 1850, 
Prolessor Norton commenced a series of letters, which 
were continued without interruption till his sickness. 
Those communications were of such a practical nature, 
and so w^ell adapted to the wants of farmers, that they 
constituted one of the chief attractions of the Cultivator. 
His views of scientific farming were not of that ultra, 
radical sort that empyrics love so well to dwell upon, but 
rather the more rational and common sense ideas, which 
a knowledge of the real condition of our farmers and 
their interests, combined with sound discipline of mind, 
would naturally form. If his style lacked ornament, it 
was because the frame work he had to build Avas too 
vast a structure to admit of decoration ; if he rarely 
called imagination to his aid, it was because he was too 
intent upon the stern realities of things ; if he seklorn 
manifested any great enthusiasm, it was because he was 
conscious of having only entered on a work whose tri- 
umphs still lay in the unexplored future. Thoughtfully, 
carefully, steadily, he was laying the foundation on 
which, in after years, he might rear as proud a monu- 
ment as science ever wrote her name upon. Agriculture 
in this country. had much to hope for in liis efforts: for 
he bent the undivided energies of his mind to its 



70 

advancement. His Avliole soni was in llie work; lie 
had the contidcnce of every one, and with no other per- 
son conkl the interests of onr rnral popnlatioii he so 
safely entrusted as with Professor Norton. Upon wliom 
will his mantle fill ? Who Avill arise to <2^nide thronii^h 
the shoals and quick sands of reckless imposture, the 
nohle ship of American industry ? 

We have not space enough to speak of particular 
articles of Prof Norton's, nor to notice the many address- 
es which he delivered at intervals hefore agriculturnl 
societies and the community generally. Sufilce it to 
say, that every thing he wrote, and every thing he said, 
was marked hy the same uniform prudence, the same 
careful judgment, which characterizes the man. He 
was never led into error — never ran headlong into chi- 
meras and fanaticism — and so was never ohliged to 
retract what he had said, or retire from positions he hnd 
taken. 

When the project of the Universil:y of Alhnny was 
broached in 1S51, Professor Norton entered Avarmly into 
the plan. He had felt deeply the need of such an insti- 
tution, and knew the ohstacles which lay in the way of 
the students of agriculture and the natural sciences. 
He advocated it as the best means of securing a perma- 
nent basis to our agricultural interests, and forming a 
nucleus for science in this countrv. The lectures which 



80 

he delivered in tlie winter of 1851-2, before a class 
wliicli was gathered in Albany, were popular and 
instructive. He had a rare faculty of expressing in 
plain language his thoughts on the most abstruse sub- 
jects, and also of holding the attention of an audience 
to his theme. The severe labor, attendant on delivering 
courses of lectures at New Haven and at the University 
of Albany, materially impaired his health, and before 
Ibe close of his lectures, he was obliged to leave for a 
warmer climate. Strong hopes were entertained, at 
lirst, of liis recovery, but Providence ]iad otherwise 
ordered. After his return to the north, he sank slowly 
to his end. Though conscious that he must leave a 
world which was just opening to his ambition, and a 
circle of friends who fully appreciated his worth, he was 
cheered on by that Christian hope which had been his 
guide and solace during life. The exchange of worlds 
is for him a happy one, but his loss will cast a shadow 
on many a heart. 

His character was in the highest degree estimable, 
and his virtues were of that quiet, unobtrusive nature, 
which steal so readily into the alfections of every one. 
lie was eminently fitted to grace the social circle, and 
bis pleasing, nrlless manner, winning address, and 
animated style of conversation, made his society pecu- 
liarly tlesirable. 



The personal friends of Prof Norton mourn one who 
was endeared to tliem by the closest intimacy, — the 
scientific world, one of their brightest lights, and the 
readers of the Cultivator, a most valuable correspondent. 
Thus in the s[)acc of five short weeks, have we been 
called to write tlie obituaries of the two most prominent 
horticultural and agricultural writers of the day, men 
whose places can not well be tilled, and whose memories 
will long be cherished by every lover of his country. 



From llie Ro^iljii Cultivator. 

JOHN PITKIN NORTON. 

In common with all trnc friends of improvement, we 
mourn the death of this talented and estimable man. 
We express no feigned regret — we feel that the whole 
country has suffered loss. This is not the occasion for 
his eulogy, were we able to do justice to his character: 
but we can not refrain from some tribute, however 
feeble, to the memory of one, whose brief career has 
been so useful, and whose prospects, viewed in reference 
to the benefits he might have conferred on his fellow 
men, were so full of hope. 

Professor Norton was no ordinary man; he was one 
in whom the "elements seemed so blended," that he 
commanded universal respect. Though he had only 
reached the age of thirty years, he had wrought for 
himself a position and reputation among the distin- 
guished men of the age. His labors were principally 
directed to the applications of science to agriculture, 
and without any invidious motive, we may safely say 
that to no man is this country more deeply indebted 
than to him, for the valuable truths which have been 



83 

elicited on this subject. His wiiole aim was truth. He 
sought no temporary eclat by the announcement of 
novel ideas, or ill founded statements. With a strength 
of judgment and power of discriminatioji l)eyond his 
years, he carefully weighed and examined every thing, 
and held fast the good. 

His advantages of education, which were liberal, were 
well improved. He spent nearly three years in Euro])e, 
under eminent prolessors in Britain and on the con- 
tinent, returning to this country in 1H47. To aptitude 
in acquiring knowledge, he imited the happy laculty of 
practically applying it — a faculty which was doubtless 
greatly strengthened by his labors and observations on 
his father's farm. 

For a few years Prof. Norton has been at the head of 
the department of Chemirstry applied to Agricidture and 
the Phenomena of Vegetable and Animal Life in Yale 
College ; in which capacity many young men have had 
the benefit of his instructions. He has also been a 
frequent contributor to the agricultural and scientific 
journals, and has lectured with great acceptance on 
agricultiu'al subjects. 

His death was caused by disease of the lungs, com- 
bined with the effect of measles. His health has been 
considerably impaired for some months, but hopes were 
entertained of his recovery until within a short time. 



ON THE DEATH OE PROE. JOHN PITKIN NORTON. 

Called early! Gone, while yet his years were few : 

So counts the world upon her calendar ; 

But those there are who wear the snows of time 

Upon their furrowed temples, and yet die 

Youno:er than he, the great intent of life 

All unachieved. 

Yet hath he made his mark 
On his own clime, and on the Mother Land 
Beyond the flood, even in his youthful prime. 
Yes, he hath made his mark. 

Yale's classic halls, 
In all their ancient pride, rememl)er him ; 
Wliile, neath their dome, a thoughtfid student band 
Who duly listened to his treasured lore, 
Lament their Teacher- 
Yes, it seems that earth 
Herself remembereth him ; so well he knew 
Her hidden elements and sequences, 
And how to wake her full benevolence, 
Making her children happier through her wealth, 
Methinks even trees and plants remember him, 
And pour, on heavy winds, a solemn wail ; 
Their harp-like branches mingling with the sigh 
Of sorrow from his desolated home. 
Life spread in strong array her charms for him : 
Young wife, and infant boy to lisp his name. 
Father and mother, and the stricken hearts 
Of truthful brothers, clinging round his own. 



85 

Saw ye beside his grave two honored forms, 
Fond guardians of his parents' infancy, 
Who now, in holy sanctity of age. 
Wept for their loved one, as the flower of grass 
Fading beside them ? 

The same hallowed guide* 
Who blessed his hoary grandsire, when he took 
His pilgrim staff, to tread the darkened vale. 
Did gird him, as he suddenly went forth 
On his returnless journey. 

List his words ! 
When with a brandished dart the pale king rose, 
Like basilisk amid a violet bank : 
" Peace and a steadfast hope.'''' 

Serene, he closed 
His eyes in solemn thought, a little space, 
Communing with his God. 

And then there burst 
From their unfolding lids, a light of joy, 
And from his icy lips the blessed sound 
Of " Glorious immortality. " 

And so 
He passed away. 

And those who saw that scene, 
Though griefs dire pang was wrestling at their heart, 
Touched by that strong sublimity of faith 
That conquereth death, mingled God's praise with tears. 

L. H. S. 

* The Rev. Dr. Porter, of Farmington, who was greatly beloved and 
respected by the late venerable Gov. Treadwell, of Connecticut. 



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